SIX riders represented the Hainault Roads Club for the Shaftesbury CC 10 mile time trial on Saturday.

The event was held on the famously quick E2/10 course near Newmarket and with warm weather anticipated it brought out a strong field of riders among whom was 1987 Tour de France stage-winner and Yellow jersey wearer Sean Yates.

Taking the afternoon off from his duties as Sports Director with Lance Armstrong’s Team Astana, Yates set off just two minutes behind Hainault’s Ian Short and the question was would he catch Short within the ten miles?

With a howling south-westerly wind the first leg from Six Mile Bottom to the turn at Four Went Ways was an enormous effort for everyone but the return left riders wishing for higher gears as the wind assisted them to speeds close to 40mph.

Short dug deep to produce a fine ride crossing the line in twenty two minutes and fifteen seconds for 29th place overall, holding off his childhood hero, Yates, who returned a time of 21:57 to take 22nd place.

Fellow Hainault rider, Paul Godfrey, rode a fine race to record 23:43 landing him 64th position with team mate Mark Steers just behind in 68th place with 23:56.

Winning the day was time trial superstar Michael Hutchinson who put in a monumental ride recording just 18.59 for the ten miles, an average of 31.6 mph. For riders with a ‘slower’ personal best time, a separate category also took place with Hainault’s Howard Staunton taking third overall with a fantastic time of 22:54, which will promote him to the faster category henceforth.

Club champion, Rob Dulson, snuck in to 10th place with a fine ride of 23:55 with former club champion, Paul Gee, taking 28th with his time of 24:40.

Staunton off to a flying start

The Hainault Roads Club evening series of ten mile time trials commenced last Wednesday with Howard Staunton trouncing the field with a show of strength to confirm his recent form.

Finishing the E16/10 course near Stapleford Abbotts Staunton recorded a time of 23:44 almost a minute and a half faster than his closest rival, Rob Dulson, who put in a great ride himself to finish in 25:06. Ilford businessman Roger Pimm got his series off to a good start with third place, crossing the line in 25:50.

Next up was Paul Gee with 26:32 with Paul Emery taking the middle spot of fifth place in 28:17. Club Time Trial secretary, Brian Ward, wasn’t far behind with 28:45 his time, followed by Kevin Barton managing to get under ‘evens’ to record 29:18.

Regulars, Frank McGowan and Chris Pimm took eighth and ninth place with times of 30:16 and 32:23 respectively. Rolling in tenth place and making his time trial debut was 14 year old Patrick Smith who turned in a creditable time of 36:21.